insomniac
Use Insomniac in a sentence
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niˌæk noun
1.
a person who suffers from insomnia, the inability, especially when chronic, to obtain sufficient sleep, through difficulty in falling or staying asleep: Her husband, an insomniac, had at last fallen asleep at the computer, head resting on the keyboard.
Related forms
an·ti-in·som·ni·ac, adjective, noun
Word story
Here's your Latin lesson for the day: somnus in Latin means “sleep.” If you tack the prefix “in-” (another Latin word, meaning “not”) onto it, you get a word that means “not sleep.” An insomniac, therefore, is a person who suffers from the inability to sleep.
Once you know the Latin root somn-, which you now do, then you will also recognize it in some related words—somnolent, meaning “sleepy, drowsy,” somniferous, meaning “sleep-inducing,” and somnambulate, meaning “to sleepwalk.”
By now, you can probably guess that a somnambulist is a sleepwalker. Perhaps the most famous somnambulist is Cesare, a carnival attraction in the 1920 silent film The Cabinet of Doctor Caligari.
We hope this story hasn’t been to somniferous—but, if it has, pleasant dreams!
Here's your Latin lesson for the day: somnus in Latin means “sleep.” If you tack the prefix “in-” (another Latin word, meaning “not”) onto it, you get a word that means “not sleep.” An insomniac, therefore, is a person who suffers from the inability to sleep.
Once you know the Latin root somn-, which you now do, then you will also recognize it in some related words—somnolent, meaning “sleepy, drowsy,” somniferous, meaning “sleep-inducing,” and somnambulate, meaning “to sleepwalk.”
By now, you can probably guess that a somnambulist is a sleepwalker. Perhaps the most famous somnambulist is Cesare, a carnival attraction in the 1920 silent film The Cabinet of Doctor Caligari.
We hope this story hasn’t been to somniferous—but, if it has, pleasant dreams!
Popular references
—Insomniac: An album by the punk band Green Day, released in 1995.
—Insomniac with Dave Attell: A Comedy Central television show, hosted by Dave Attell, which ran in the early 2000s.
—Insomniac: An album by the punk band Green Day, released in 1995.
—Insomniac with Dave Attell: A Comedy Central television show, hosted by Dave Attell, which ran in the early 2000s.
Related Quotations
“The more the insomniac tries to go to sleep, the wider awake he becomes.“
—Andre Muller Weitzenhoffer, The Practice of Hypnotism (2000)
—Andre Muller Weitzenhoffer, The Practice of Hypnotism (2000)
“In the morning she put on her black dress again, and carried her insomniac face proudly to the breakfast table, where Melissy took one look at it and rang up the doctor immediately.“
—Elizabeth Stuart Phelps, “Twenty-Four Four“ Harper’s New Monthly Magazine, Volume 92, Issue 1 (December 1895 to May 1896)
—Elizabeth Stuart Phelps, “Twenty-Four Four“ Harper’s New Monthly Magazine, Volume 92, Issue 1 (December 1895 to May 1896)
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2013.
Cite This Source
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2013.
Cite This Source
|
Link To insomniac
00:10
Insomniac
is always a great word to know.
So is zedonk. Does it mean:
| the offspring of a zebra and a donkey. |
| an extraordinary or unusual thing, person, or event; an exceptional example or instance. |
Collins
World English Dictionary
insomniac (ɪnˈsɒmnɪˌæk) ![[Click for IPA pronunciation guide]](http://static.sfdict.com/dictstatic/g/d/dictionary_questionbutton_default.gif) | |
| —adj | |
| 1. | exhibiting or causing insomnia |
| —n | |
| 2. | a person experiencing insomnia |
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 10th Edition
2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009
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2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009
Cite This Source
American Heritage
Medical Dictionary
insomniac in·som·ni·ac (ĭn-sŏm'nē-āk')
n.
One who suffers from insomnia. adj.
Having or causing insomnia.
The American Heritage® Stedman's Medical Dictionary
Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Cite This Source
Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Cite This Source
Example sentences
Another, an insomniac, slept soundly for the first time in over a decade.
He had a lot of time to think about these things because he was an insomniac.
Gradually, my insomniac wanderings have taken me to the more ambiguous, transitional zones of the city.
They understood this was the question not of a flirt but of an insomniac.
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